The Remarkable Courtship of General Tom Thumb
A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An irresistible novel that “charts a harrowing tour through the Civil War” (Connecticut Post) and chronicles the life of Tom Thumb—the tiny man who became, in his time, America’s most famous entertainer.
“I was four years old when Barnum discovered me, and soon to turn five when I first appeared on the big stage of his American Museum.” So begins the story of Tom Thumb, who at just twenty-five-inches tall, rises to global fame as America’s most beloved entertainer. With his parents’ blessing, Tom comes of age in Barnum’s five-story gallery of oddities, exploring its mystical artifacts and exotic animals between his performances to sold-out crowds. One day in the museum’s basement menagerie, Tom meets a new performer, Lavinia Warren, who stands three inches shorter than he. It’s love at first sight, and Barnum quickly arranges the largest wedding reception New York City has ever seen. As cannon fire echoes across Bull Run and Antietam, both North and South are briefly united by their fascination with “General” Tom Thumb and his beautiful, petite wife.
Despite the Civil War, Tom and Lavinia embark on a honeymoon tour, where they encounter cities and people ravaged by the ongoing conflict. But as the tour winds down, an unexpected danger follows Tom and Lavinia back home.
Witty, lyrical, and with a colorful cast of notable figures of the period, The Remarkable Courtship of General Tom Thumb is an evocative, poignant imagining of one man’s story, from a “master of elegant prose and psychological insight” (Entertainment Weekly).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rinaldi (Bridge Fall Down) imaginatively blends fact and fiction in this breezy 19th-century historical. Celebrated showman P.T. Barnum finds and hires five-year-old Charlie Stratton, a little person whom Barnum rechristens with the stage name General Tom Thumb. Tom performs with other members of the exotic troupe at Barnum's American Museum in New York City. The "precocious" and "full of mischief" boy impersonates world figures, dances and sings, and tells jokes, making him rich and famous. The diminutive star and his parents embark on a three-year European tour in search of international acclaim. Much later, on the eve of the American Civil War, Tom and Barnum witness firsthand the shocking horrors of the First Battle of Bull Run. Burned out and lonely, Tom falls in love with and woos fellow performer Lavinia "Vinny" Warren (32 inches in height to Tom's 35), and Barnum, always the showman, arranges an extravagant wedding for them. The Lincolns host a White House reception for the celebrated newlyweds after which the patriotic Tom serves as a secret military courier during their honeymoon tour through New England and Canada. While on the road, Tom carries out his dangerous messenger duties while Vinny, ruminating between performances held in different cities, longs to start a family. As the war winds down, Tom and Vinny must overcome the darker challenges they encounter in Rinaldi's top-notch entertainment.